I would suggest that as a direct result of over-stretch brought about by the likes of Torpy agreeing to fight on two fronts Nimrod engineers were breaching harmony requirements and forced to send people with less experience than desirable into theatre. The BoI report refers to this very thing. The recent incident report resulting in a Mayday Nimrod landing at Kandahar, referred to a new fuel coupling and the crew made a mental note of the fact that it was the first AAR flight since the new coupling. Problems with couplings increased four fold in recent years another fact in the report. Problems with procedures concerning the maintenance of these couplings are well known, And the RAF chief engineer is open minded about a coupling being responsible for the fuel leak that brought down XV230.
Lack of experience is nothing to be ashamed about. It is an inevitable result of excessive draw downs, poor morale and over-stretch.
As a direct result of the recent loss of a Herc in Afg many changes have taken place. Reflecting the lack of training opportunity and low levels of experience in the modern RAF. Take a look at a recent inquest into the Basra Puma crash. Lack of training and experience is starting to kill. It is a very big problem. If there is a shortage of manpower at ISK or a lack of experience in the engineering community, there ain't no use in denying it.
The forthcoming eng det to Akrotiri is only going to make matters worse.